com·mute / kəˈmyoōt/ • v. 1. [intr.] travel some distance between one's home and place of work on a regular basis: she commuted from Westport in to Grand Central Station.2. [tr.] reduce (a judicial sentence, esp. a sentence of death) to one less severe. ∎  (commute something for/into) change one kind of payment or obligation for (another). ∎  replace (an annuity or other series of payments) with a single payment.3. [intr.] Math. (of two operations or quantities) have a commutative relationship.• n. a regular journey of some distance to and from one's place of work.DERIVATIVES: com·mut·er n. (in sense 1).

com·mu·ta·tor / ˈkämyəˌtātər/ • n. an attachment, connected to the armature of a motor or generator, through which electrical connection is made and which ensures that the current flows as direct current. ∎  a device for reversing the direction of flow of electric current.

commute †exchange; change for something else. XVII. — L. commūtāre change altogether, exchange, f. COM- + mūtāre change (see MUTATION).
So commutation XV. — (O)F. or L. commuter XIX.